All Time

Friday, October 27, 2017

Stranger Things: Episode 17

17. The Gate

An impromptu reunion unfolds at casa Byers. "Close gate" starts to make sense, with Joyce asking Eleven if she can close the portal she herself has opened. But killing the mind means killing the body, which happens to be Will. Joyce, Nancy, and Jonathan bring him to Hopper's cabin to "burn" the shadow monster out of him while Elle and Hopper head to the laboratory. Steve and the rest drive to the tunnel entrance to locate the hub, which they incinerate. The shadow monster finds the heat hard to bear and finally leaves Will's body, just as Eleven and Hopper reach the gate. Summoning all of her strength, she forces the otherworldly portal to close, hopefully for good. Owens survives and gives Hopper Eleven's adoption papers, while she is left under observation for at least a year. They allow her to have a night off to attend the school's Snow Ball. As the kids dance the night away, a quick glance of the Upside Down shows that the shadow monster is alive and well, looming over the school.

But why is everyone blaming Hopper for everything? Christ, give the guy a break? That car scene was really touching, though. I guess we all understand where Hoppy is coming from. El is some sort of second chance for him to be a daddy. It's nice to see them in good terms again, and officially legit to boot. Steve is hilarious by the way. He should be interacting with the younger kids more. I love how he got totally emasculated this season but is totally cool with it. At least he is not the resident jerk anymore. Hey, character development. The ending is not really that much of a cliffhanger but by the looks of it, it seems like the shadow monster thing will be coming back for revenge next season. As to how it will do that, we have no idea. Didn't Dustin get sprayed with some weirdness while they were in the tunnel? The show has already been renewed for Season 3, so I guess all we can do is wait and see how the writers will connect everything. Surprise us. At least the cast is still complete.